The present invention relates to sliding doors, and, more particularly, to a top guide for such sliding doors to facilitate stable placement and movement along the track in which they are inserted.
Various types of sliding doors are utilized for internal applications within residential and in some commercial structures. Although some sliding doors slide into a pocket formed in the wall of the building, frequently closets employ bypassing doors, i.e., a pair of doors which will slide in parallel tracks so that one side or the other of the door opening is clear to provide access to the closet. Such doors may comprise hollow core doors of wood or the like, or be an assembly of mirrors or other panels seated in metallic or wooden frames.
The tracks which are employed in such structures are generally extruded aluminum or roll formed sheet steel. For bypassing doors, the cross section of track is generally referred to as an inverted "E" in which there are two outside walls and a center wall to provide a pair of channels.
In Jasperson et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,349,783, there is illustrated a top guide utilizing a pair of wheels bearing on opposite walls of each of the channels of the track to provide stability of the door within the opening and desirable guided rolling action along the length of the track. The structure of this patent represents an effort to address the problem of variations in width of the track due to tolerances in forming the track and also the problems encountered as the rollers wear over extended periods of use. Although the structure shown in the Jasperson et al Patent has been beneficial, there has remained a need to provide an longer lived structure in which there is a desirable spring action to maintain the rollers in firm rolling engagement with the two walls of the track in which they operate.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel roller top guide for sliding doors in which there is continuing spring pressure to maintain the rollers in contact with the walls of the track.
It is also an object to provide such a roller top guide utilizing components which can be simply and economically fabricated from synthetic resin.
Another object is to provide such a roller top guide in which the components may be quickly assembled and which can be utilized in connection with both wooden doors and panel doors.